Undersea explorers reveal new images of the Titanic wreckage

Video and photographs taken by high-powered, specially adapted cameras captured the bacteria-eaten ship at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Explorer Victor Vescovo is leading a mission to the bottom of the five oceans. Known at the Five Deeps Expedition, Vescovo pilots a special submersible vehicle that took more than three years to build.

The mission 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) to the bottom of the ocean captured the first images of the sunken British passenger liner in 14 years.

Vescovo said the team made a total of five dives to the wreck over eight days in early August.

“It’s big. It is a big wreck. I wasn’t fully ready for just how large it was. And when it came up on sonar, it really stood out,” said the explorer.

While underwater, the team performed photogrammetry passes on the ship. That information will be used to make 3D models for use on augmented reality and virtual reality platforms. The images may also help scientists predict how the wreck will continue to deteriorate.

“It was just extraordinary just to see it all,” Vescovo added. “The most amazing moment came when I was going along the side of the Titanic and the bright lights of the submersible, the first time when they reflected off of a portal and came right back. It was like the ship was winking at me. It was really amazing.”

On April 10, 1912, the Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage, traveling from Southampton, England, to New York. Onboard were a number of prominent people, including American businessman Benjamin Guggenheim, British journalist William Thomas Stead, and Macy’s department store co-owner Isidor Straus and his wife, Ida.

The liner struck an iceberg late on April 14 and sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912. Of the 2,223 passengers and crew aboard the ship, dubbed “unsinkable” before departure, 1,517 died.